Monday, December 8th 1980……Colorado Springs, Colorado
The news was bad. John Lennon (John Winston Lennon) had been shot and killed outside his apartment in New York City. It was like a knife in my heart.
I didn’t like the Beatles at first. I and my Navy buddies thought they looked and sounded like fruits, with their silly hair and Liverpudlian accents. But one hit song followed another, their tremendous musical talent began to be evident and I discovered that I was a fan, a life-long fan as it turned out.
John Lennon was always my favorite Beatle. I don’t know why, he just was. McCartney was the face of the Beatles, George Harrison the heart,….but John was their soul. Ringo brought up the rear. I loved John Lennon, less so after he married Yoko Ono and turned into a weirdo but my love for his music never diminished.
A few days later they held a memorial in The Garden of the Gods, in the shadow of the Kissing Camels and hundreds of people came, more like thousands of people came, to pay their last respects. There were many younger people but mainly folks about my age (37 at the time) many of them moved to tears by the emotion of the moment.
My daughter was ten years old and knew of the Beatles because of me (the wife was a Rolling Stones fan; I was a Beatles all the way). She came along with us, and my dog Noah came along too. People in Colorado are fond of taking their dogs with them almost anywhere, so we brought the big black ball of fur to the event. Noah started to relieve himself on a man’s leg but I managed to pull him away before he could accomplish the act. He found a bush instead.
A loud speaker was blasting out the song Imagine. I never cared much for the song. It reminded me that he had, in the later years, turned into a peacenik pussy and I wanted to hear some real John Lennon. I wanted to hear some Dizzy Miss Lizzy. or maybe Twist and Shout Something from the old days….one of my favorite Lennon songs.
My daughter cried at the memorial for John Lennon, probably because others around her were crying, my wife cried too. I did not….it just seemed inappropriate at the time….it was deeper than that. I never knew him, but it seemed like I did. It’s been 22 years since it happened. A new generation has grown up that has no clue about who he was or what he did.
All in all, John Lennon was not a very admirable person, but I liked him, and I miss him.
Jack Dallas (Posted on BOTF 2002)
The news was bad. John Lennon (John Winston Lennon) had been shot and killed outside his apartment in New York City. It was like a knife in my heart.
I didn’t like the Beatles at first. I and my Navy buddies thought they looked and sounded like fruits, with their silly hair and Liverpudlian accents. But one hit song followed another, their tremendous musical talent began to be evident and I discovered that I was a fan, a life-long fan as it turned out.
John Lennon was always my favorite Beatle. I don’t know why, he just was. McCartney was the face of the Beatles, George Harrison the heart,….but John was their soul. Ringo brought up the rear. I loved John Lennon, less so after he married Yoko Ono and turned into a weirdo but my love for his music never diminished.
A few days later they held a memorial in The Garden of the Gods, in the shadow of the Kissing Camels and hundreds of people came, more like thousands of people came, to pay their last respects. There were many younger people but mainly folks about my age (37 at the time) many of them moved to tears by the emotion of the moment.
My daughter was ten years old and knew of the Beatles because of me (the wife was a Rolling Stones fan; I was a Beatles all the way). She came along with us, and my dog Noah came along too. People in Colorado are fond of taking their dogs with them almost anywhere, so we brought the big black ball of fur to the event. Noah started to relieve himself on a man’s leg but I managed to pull him away before he could accomplish the act. He found a bush instead.
A loud speaker was blasting out the song Imagine. I never cared much for the song. It reminded me that he had, in the later years, turned into a peacenik pussy and I wanted to hear some real John Lennon. I wanted to hear some Dizzy Miss Lizzy. or maybe Twist and Shout Something from the old days….one of my favorite Lennon songs.
My daughter cried at the memorial for John Lennon, probably because others around her were crying, my wife cried too. I did not….it just seemed inappropriate at the time….it was deeper than that. I never knew him, but it seemed like I did. It’s been 22 years since it happened. A new generation has grown up that has no clue about who he was or what he did.
All in all, John Lennon was not a very admirable person, but I liked him, and I miss him.
Jack Dallas (Posted on BOTF 2002)